Printer s make-ready



(No Model.)

, C. SEARS. 7 PRINTERS MAKE-READY.

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a 'tv t fi Ev m INVENTOR.

No. 530,310. Patented De@.4, 1894.

. FFICE.

ATENT CHARLES SEARS, or CLEVELAND, onto.

PRINTERS MAKE-READY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 530,310, dated December 4, 1 894. Application filed March so, 1894. strain). 506.723. mamas.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES SEARS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland,in the county of Ouyahoga and State. of

5 Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Printers Make-Ready; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the printers art,and it consists of a typographical make-ready and the process of preparing the same.

The object is to do away with the now commonly employed methods, such as under-laying, over-laying and cutting away portions of the tym pan; and to cheaply and expeditiously produce for any type form a make-ready,

whereby said form may be printed with sub- 0 pressure preferably in excess of that which will clearly define every character in the form, and sustaining or frequently repeating said pressure until the plastic material has set; and finally removing one or more of the said sheets of paper.

The invention also consists in the product of said process, viz: a make-ready having a hard base and one or more sheets of paper secured over the same, said base and cover sheets having depressions corresponding in position and depth with the position and elevation of the characters in the form above the level of the lowest characters therein.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of the platen of a platen press, with the described tympan secured thereto. Fig. 2 isa sectional view of the same, showing also a line of type with exaggerated inequalities in height in the act of making the impression therein; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional View of the make-ready in condition for use with the line of type above it.

In the practice of my invention atynipan Upon the platen'Oor cylinder is first secured ;a thin covering A of plastic material,of which papier mach is to be preferred. This plastic material should be as stiff as possible While 'still retaining its susceptibility to receive the impression, for the reason that thereby the make-ready may more quickly be ready for use. Next, the plurality of sheets B of paper are tightly secured over said plastic covering.

Next, after the type form D is locked in the press, an impression of said form is made upon the described tympan. Every character in the form should be clearly defined upon the tympan, and when this is done it is clear that every character which is raised above the lowest character in the form will have made a depression in the tympan; and the depth and position of these depressions will necessarilycorrespond with the elevation and position of the type making them. I prefer to employ. an excessive pressure so that every character-in the form will make a slight depression in the tympan,butit is not believed that this excessive pressure is an essential feature of the process. It may be said, however, that the most successful results are attained by the employment of the excessive pressure.

The pressure'of the type form upon the.

tympan is maintained or frequently repeated until the plastic base is thoroughly set. In a platen press I prefer to maintain the pressure by holding the form and tympan in contact. In a drum cylinder press this is impossible, and substantially the same result is obtained by running the press constantly until the plastic base is set; and this method may likewise be pursued with the platen press. By thus maintaining or repeating the pressure,

the shrinkage of the plastic base in drying is not permitted to distort it.

'When the plastic base is set, one or more (as may be necessary) of the sheets of paper are removed, and the make-readyis in condition'for use. By the removal of the top sheets, the sharp angles in the surface are removed, and the superficial area of the separate depressions is increased, but their proportionate depth is not changed. In the absence of sharp angles on the make-ready, the paper upon which the form is subsequently printed, is not sharply or injuriously bent during the printing act.

The make-ready prepared in the manner above described consists of a hard base and one or more coverings of paper,-both base and covering sheets having depressions which correspond in relative positions and depth with the relative positions and elevations of the characters in the type form.

This method of preparing a make-ready for a type-form solves a difficulty which has heretofore been unsolved, viz, how to print on a hard tympan,'and thereby do fine Work, with the product of the linotype machines, typograph machines, and other machines of like character. The characters in a form made up of type bars are invariably more irregular than in a form made up of separate type. None of thisirregularity can be remedied by under laying. Consequently the preparation of a make-ready for such a form has been a long, tedious and expensive operation; and I believe no practical success has heretofore been attained in printing from type bar forms except with a soft or blanket tympan.

or more of the sheets of paper, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. A typographical make-ready, consisting of a hard base and one or more coverings of paper,hoth base and paper having depressions formed therein which correspond in 'relative depth and position with the relative height and position of the character on the type form, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof Iaffix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

- CHARLES SEARS. Witnesses:

E. L. THURSTON, L. F. GRIsWoLD. 

